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Shocking! Black Lightning in the News

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in Black Lightning

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Twitter detectives remembered this interview with Salim Akil, that had this quote:   Also, China Anne McClain posted a personal video on Instagram where (among other things) she addresses

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Ratings reports: http://deadline.com/2018/01/black-lightning-premiere-ratings-lethal-weapon-chicago-med-season-high-1202244659/ http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/tv-ratings-

johntfs
johntfs

I doubt it will affect the ratings that much.  Figure most of the Black Lightning audience are either African-Americans and/or young people who like superhero stuff.  Which would they prefer, Jefferso

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paulvdb

The CW Renews 10 Series: ‘Riverdale’, All 5 DC Shows, ‘Supernatural’, ‘Dynasty’, ‘Jane the Virgin’ & ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’

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The CW again has given an early renewal to the bulk of its lineup, picking up all returning series on its fall schedule for the 2018-19 season as well as freshmen Dynasty and Black Lightning. The list includes all five DC superhero series, The Flash (Season 5), Arrow (Season 7), Supergirl (Season 4) and Legends of Tomorrow (Season 4), joined by newcomer Black Lighting (Season 2) as well as the venerable Supernatural, picked up for a 14th (!) season, sophomore success Riverdale (Season 3) and  comedies Jane the Virgin (Season 5) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Season 4) for what could be the praised duo’s final seasons.

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DVD/Blu-Ray news:

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From Warner Bros. Television, DC Entertainment and Berlanti Productions, the producers of the hit series The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow, along with Akil Productions, comes the next Super Hero breakout hit, as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Black Lightning: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray and DVD on June 26, 2018.

Black Lightning delivered the most-watched series premiere in the past two years, and remains The CW's second highest-rated show just behind The Flash. Fans that purchase the set will be able to watch all 13 electrifying episodes from the first season, supercharged with extra content including the 2017 Comic-Con panel, new featurettes, deleted scenes, gag reel and more. Black Lightning: The Complete First Season is priced to own at $29.98 SRP for the DVD and $39.99 SRP for the Blu-ray.

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BLU-RAY & DVD FEATURES:

  • Black Lightning Comic-Con panel
  • A Family of Strength
  • Black Lightning Come Visit Georgia
  • Gag Reel
  • Deleted Scenes

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Black-Lightning-Season-1-Press-Release/24114

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'Black Lightning boss addresses those Arrowverse references'

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“We are in our own world,” Akil tells EW. “We’re not in the Arrowverse. We’re not in the Supergirl universe. We’re in the Black Lightning universe. If there’s ever a crossover, Supergirl will come to Freeland, or Green Arrow will come to Freeland.” ...

In fact, those “fun” references to other DC Comics heroes were just that — fun references. “We mentioned those other characters just to have fun,” says Akil. “I thought it was just fun to tease the fans and have fun with the fans. We’re always trying to have a conversation with the fans and we’re also trying to have fun with them, so that was part of that.”

(emphasis mine) That's exactly how I want it if they decide to do any crossovers. Do not let the current Arrowverse writers touch the Black Lightning characters; but I would like to see certain Arrowverse characters in the hands of Black Lightning writers.

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Interview with Sam Akil in this article on the DC shows, discussing developments in the finale and plans for Season 2.

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"I don't want to introduce too many villains," Akil says. "I want us to settle in now that we know everyone. We know what the ASA is, we know who Tobias is, so now we can really tell some grounded stories about our villains, our heroes, the people in Freeland. So yes Tobias will be our villains but there will be other forces in Freeland and outside of Freeland that will rear their ugly heads." As for what's in the briefcase, Akil laughs. "I can't tell you, but I can give you a general answer," he says. "There is power in that box, power like Tobias has never had before. What he sees in it is horrible to us, but to him it's exciting. He feels it's going to make him the king of Freeland and beyond."

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Some of the cast will be at Motor City Comic Con this weekend.

Interview with Cress Williams and Nafessa Williams:

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"It's been a dream of mine to play a superhero in some capacity for a long, long time," says the 47-year-old actor, who has the title role on the acclaimed CW series that debuted in January.

"Right at the moment when I felt like, you know, I'm  not in my 30s, and so thought that maybe I had aged out of that possibility, this came along  And not only was that amazing, but also reading the script and seeing the type of world we're creating, the type of stories we're telling, the character I get to play. ... All of it has been phenomenal."

...

With season one over and filming for season two set to start at the end of June, the actors of "Black Lightning" have had a chance to reflect on the success of the series. "It's nice to be a part of a show I was passionate  about and that's pushing the culture forward. I feel 'Black Lightning is doing that for sure," says Nafessa Williams.

For Cress Williams, the fame that has arrived after decades in the business requires a little adjustment.

"It's the first time in my career where I hear people say my actual name (and not a character's)," he notes. "To be walking in the airport and hear somone say 'That's  Cress Williams,' it kind of freaks me out. ...That's something I'm getting used to."

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/2018/05/17/black-lightning-motor-city-comic-con/614682002/

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Article on the visual effects in Black Lightning in Post Magazine:

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BLACK LIGHTNING

Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, The CW’s new series Black Lightning follows the retired superhero and current high school principal Jefferson Pierce (played by Cress Williams), who is forced to unleash his powers and return to crime fighting when a local gang threatens his community. Black Lightning can harness and control electricity; his elder daughter, who eventually fights crime as Thunder, has her own superpowers, while his younger daughter, Jennifer, is just beginning to discover her abilities.

The series is shot in HD in Atlanta and debuted in January for a 13-episode run. Burbank-based Encore VFX (www.encorepost.com), assisted by its now permanent office in Atlanta, is the sole VFX vendor for the show.

It’s not surprising that the key VFX for the show have been Black Lightning’s signature superpower. “The comics were great for reference, but television is a different medium: What might look good in a drawing may not look as good as live-action effects,” notes Armen Kevorkian (pictured), creative director and senior visual effects supervisor at Encore VFX. He serves as VFX supervisor for Black Lightning.

Encore was challenged to take something — lightning — that everyone recognizes and “change it up” by adding other elements. “We didn’t want it to feel like it was just bolts,” Kevorkian explains. “So we comp’d in secondary elements to give almost a sizzle off the bolts like a residual energy.” Artists achieved this look using Thinkbox Software’s Krakatoa plug-in for Autodesk 3ds Max.

“Every scene is different, so there are long and short bursts of lightning and a move where he swirls his hands to harness the energy before it shoots out,” says Kevorkian. “Everything is pretty intricate and customized, not from a library. The lightning is 3D; the 2D department integrates the lightning with interactive lighting and other elements.” Encore also devised variations on lightning, including a power shield layered over the core lightning blast and a power bubble that forms around Black Lightning.

The superhero’s daughters exhibit more subtle, energy-themed powers. Anissa Pierce (Thunder) uses a stomp or clap to send out a thunderous energy wave. “It’s a distortion effect, played up or down depending on the environment and how much you want to read it, with a little color to show it off,” says Kevorkian.

The younger Jennifer Pierce displays subsurface energy under her skin, mostly on her hands. “It’s one of my favorite effects,” Kevorkian reports. “It comes and goes and undulates; it’s almost like when you stick a flashlight in your mouth and you see the veins in your cheek. The effect shows a bit of veins and muscle detail. You see this on Jefferson Pierce, too — on his neck and chest. It’s the energy that lives within him all the time.” An “eye gag” also reveals the energy welling up in Jefferson’s pupils.

Cress Williams was scanned with and without his suit so Encore could create digital doubles of Black Lightning for stunt sequences, hovering and flying shots. Some flying scenes feature the actor shot against greenscreen and composited into environments, others are all digital with a digidouble and CG environments.

For Season 1, Encore also crafted muzzle flashes, CG piranhas for an aquarium scene and CG weapon darts.

The artists’ toolset features Maya for animation, Pixologic’s ZBrush for modeling, 3ds Max for lighting and rendering, Andersson Technologies’ SynthEyes for tracking and Nuke for compositing.

Encore’s Kim Rasser is on-set VFX supervisor for the show, providing expertise on shooting for VFX and ensuring that the best possible plates are delivered to the VFX team. Encore had “a small presence” in Atlanta before, says Kevorkian, and now has a permanent office in the production hub. “The Atlanta office does a lot of comps for the final look of everything, and they’re starting to do some 3D now.” All QC and reviews are done in Burbank.

“The post team is great and Salim [Akil] is a very collaborative EP to work with,” Kevorkian says. “He knows what he wants and trusts us to come up with those looks. It’s a very no-nonsense process.”

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Black Lightning at San Diego Comic Con: http://comiccon.thewb.com/wbsdcc-2018/

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SATURDAY, JULY 21

 

11:00–11:45 a.m.  Black Lightning Special Video Presentation and Q&A

 — Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) made his choice: he hung up the suit and his secret identity years ago. But with crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, he must return as Black Lightning — to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community. 

Join series stars Cress Williams, China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams, Christine Adams, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III, Damon Gupton and James Remar and producer Salim Akil for an electrifying look at season two!  ...

Ballroom 20.

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Ausiello: CW president Mark Pedowitz told Matt Mitovich at TCA, “At this time, no,” there aren’t any plans for Black Lightning to formally join the Arrowverse (despite having name-checked the likes of Supergirl and Vixen). “It’s really [showrunner] Salim [Akil]’s call — if he wants to do it, we’ll be glad to have that discussion.” Pedowitz went on to hype Black Lightning‘s Season 2 opener, saying, “It’s as socially relevant as it was last year, if not more so.”

https://tvline.com/2018/08/07/greys-anatomy-teddy-owen-baby-spoilers-season-15/

I'm still going to hold on to the hope that one or two characters from the other shows can cross over to BL at some point (but not the other way around!).

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Interview with EP Sam Akil: https://ew.com/tv/2018/09/25/black-lightning-salim-akil-season-2-preview/

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:Let’s start at the beginning. Where do we pick we up in season 2?

SALIM AKIL: We basically pick up with them a week later, after having exposed Green Light and fought off this rogue faction of the ASA. Something that we’re doing that I wanted to do was lean a little bit more into tipping my hat to the comic book world. Although we’ll stay in our reality, what I’m doing this season is books. For instance, the first four episodes are called “The Book of Consequences: The Rise of the Green Light Baby[sic].” What we’re talking about when we pick up is dealing with the consequences of the drug Green Light being introduced into this community. So that’s where we pick up at.

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Premiere review at Collider (mostly spoiler-free, but does mention certain events): 'Family, Truth, and Consequences'

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Consequences can be a trouble area for so many of The CW’s DC shows. .... it’s rare to find any real commitment to follow-through. But Black Lightning has always distinguished itself as something very different within the CW’s DC lineup, not just because it stars a black superhero (actually, a family of black superheroes), but because it always grounds itself in a world we can recognize — one that includes real consequences.

Some of those are supernaturally-derived, of course, but many more just focus on general battle wounds. ... Violence against faceless drones is the norm in most superhero stories, so it’s nice to pause and remember that this is not the norm. These are all people, and death means something.

The bottom line is that nothing that happened in the Season 1 finale has been forgotten —

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